No Choice Left
by kardamon
Summary: Sookie says she can't choose, but what happens when she has to? It might turn out, that there is really no choice at all. Post season 5 finale. One shot.


**Post season 5 finale. Unlikely to happen in the show, but a girl can dream.**

**I was trying to write this one in third person for a change, but it proved to be challenging.**

**Disclaimer: I have the right to remain silent and I will not hesitate to use it.**

* * *

NO CHOICE LEFT

Her heart was a mess. Her thoughts were in chaos. Her body was on alert.

And her instincts were screaming to her to do as she was told.

There was this primal, sharp fear rising in her chest in response to witnessing something she had never witnessed before. It was not because of the nightmarish image burned in her memory - which was atrocious and hard to comprehend, but she'd seen many horrors before - it was hearing the fear in his voice as he shouted to her. There should never be – there have never been before - fear in his voice. Not in a battle. Not when his was bound under silver chains. Not on fire. Not in the sun. Never.

So when she turned around on her heel and pushed every muscle in her body to move, she did as he ordered her – she ran.

The lights flickered and turned red as the loud sound of the alarm bell blasted from the megaphones. The Authority's headquarters looked like it was about to fall apart. Sookie rounded the corner and looked down the long corridor.

'Eric!', she called. 'Where to?'

She heard a loud thump and a roar from somewhere behind her.

'Eric?', she called again, scared that it wasn't him at all, and looked back.

She was relieved when she saw him, but confused as to why he wasn't coming, so she stopped. He shut the doors after them and leaned against them, keeping them closed. Something was banging against them from the other side. The whole wall shook from the force of the invisible blows.

'Eric...'

'I said, RUN!', he screamed. 'NOW, Sookie! Don't stop!'

'I can't leave you here!', she shouted back desperately realising what he was doing – trying to buy her some time by staying behind and holding Bill back.

'Damn it, Sookie! Get out! I can't -'

Just then the doors gave up with a crash and shattered into dozen of pieces. Sookie shrieked when she saw the monster that used to be her lover grab Eric with a snarl, digging its fingers so hard into his flesh, that they were piercing his skin. Eric fought back and they clashed together. She stood frozen in place. They were moving too fast for her to be able to tell what was really going on, but she jumped a little when she saw one of them missing the blow and making a hole in a wall with a fist.

Now, normally Eric should be able to take Bill with a one hand, but it didn't look like that was still the case. She knew that he didn't become weaker, which could mean only one thing – whatever creature Bill turned into, it had to be extremely powerful.

'No!', Sookie cried, as she suddenly saw Eric's body go limp in monster's grasp when the latter snapped his neck. 'Eric!'

She watched in horror the creature picking the Viking's body up and against the wall, holding it by his throat. She could not recognise the man she once loved in this bloody, hissing _thing_.

'Don't! Stop!'

Against any reason, she ran back, though what she could possibly do, she didn't know. She tried to catch the monster's arm to pry it out of Eric, but it batted her away like a fly, not paying her any attention. She landed on the opposite wall and tripped while trying to find her balance. Instead she fell almost landing on her face. When she looked up, the Thing had its back to her and it looked like it was planning on ripping Eric in half. Her hand closed on the splinter of wood from the broken doors.

* * *

The alarm was still ringing in his ears when he regained consciousness, his spine healing far too slow for his liking. The air smelled of blood and burned electric installation. He was sitting on the floor, with his back propped against the wall and except for his neck he seemed to have no other major injuries. Someone was holding him strongly, but he could tell that those tiny arms wrapped around him were not Bill's, or whatever it was that he'd become. He blinked.

_Sookie_.

He looked around taking in his surroundings. Bill was no longer in the sight, but Eric's eyes widened slightly as he noticed they were both sitting in the pool of dark, sparkling blood and there was a makeshift stake lying nearby on the floor. It looked used.

Sookie was curled on his lap with her face buried in his chest. She seemed to be crying. He said her name aloud and she lifted her head immediately.

'Oh God, are you okay?', she asked, raising a trembling hand to his face.

'I'm fine. What happened here?'

She cried harder.

'I had... I had to stop him', she sobbed. 'I couldn't let him do this. I couldn't let him hurt you. I had to.'

'Sookie', he tried to call her. She was clearly in shock. 'I need you to focus. Tell me what happened.'

'I didn't want to', she said so quiet, that had he not been a vampire, he would not have heard her over the noise. 'I never meant for this to happen. This is all my fault. I should have been able to save him. To talk him out of this. Even you thought I should. I failed.'

'Sookie, where is Bill?', he asked as gently, as he could.

She glanced at the bloody floor and the stake confirming what he'd been already suspecting and then looked back at him with big eyes, as a scared and confused child. He felt a pang in his heart. She'd never looked at him like this before – with this kind of unguarded need. Before she left with the fairies she had not trust him enough to rely on him, and then, when he was cursed, she was the one with the knowledge and answers and she didn't expect him to be strong for her. But now, she was looking at him with such faith in her eyes – that she was safe with him and that he wouldn't harm her or damn her – hoping that he would somehow help.

'Do you think I killed him?', she asked vulnerably.

He could feel her pain and guilt washing over him and he expected her to pull away blaming him for being the reason why she had to attack this Bill-ish monster, but this didn't seem to be the case, seeing as she was still clinging to him.

'He was going to hurt you', she continued, her voice breaking. 'And I... I had to do something. I had to stop it. I didn't want to kill him, but he had you and I... had to make a choice. I couldn't risk it. I couldn't let you get killed. I had no choice.'

Something in her words struck him and he closed his arms around her on instinct, hugging her. She hid her face in his neck seeking comfort. She was repeating over and over how sorry she was. He shushed her as he thought of the other night, the night when he was in Marnie's thrall and she blasted him with her light to stop him from killing Bill. When she told him, that this made her realise that she still loved the younger vampire. He stroke her back as he thought that he got the light, not the stake. That her light didn't hurt him, but healed him. That he was stopped – not killed. He kissed her hair as he remembered her telling them she couldn't choose. Yet look what she just said. What she just did. He murmured soothing words into her ear as he recalled her telling them both that she could not imagine her world without them, right before she walked away from them. He wanted so much for her to choose him that night, and he was so hurt when she didn't. He'd always wanted her to choose him but he'd never thought she would _kill _Bill for him. He held her close as he thought of her putting silver on him, asking for forgiveness, whispering that she was doing it because she couldn't take loosing anybody else she loved. But what if she could save only one of them? What if she could do this only by dooming the other? What if in order to save him she had to choose?

Eric might be mad at her, but this was his Sookie in his arms and she needed him.  
Surprisingly, he was not happy that she ended up staking Bill. The whole thing was simply sad and painful and he wished it had never happened. He held her as he felt her breaking inside, full of self-destructive feelings. This night was too much for her. He wasn't about to let her fall apart.

'No', he said firmly. 'He killed himself. This was _his _choice to do this, to give himself to this mad goddess.'

She looked at him with tenderness and pain mixed in her eyes.

'Why are you doing this? How can you be so good to me after everything?', she asked.

'You infuriating woman', he growled. 'Did you not listen when I told you I loved you?'

She reached for him uncertainly, almost shyly and put her hand on his face, as if she was afraid if he wanted her to touch him. She stroke his cheek lightly and slowly leaned closer, not sure how he could still love her, when she broke his heart, but grateful for it. She should have known. She kissed him then – it was a butterfly kiss, but it felt just right.

'I'm so sorry', she sighed again, but this time they both knew she was not talking about Bill.

He stood up pulling her on her feet in the same motion.

'Come on', he said, feeling strange calm filling him. 'Let's get out of here.'

He took her hand to lead her outside and they walked away from this cursed place. He tossed the last glance over his shoulder and looked at the bubbling and hissing blood, boiling angry on the floor, the last remains of Bill Compton. He looked away.

* * *

**Yes, yes, Eric doesn't give up easily on his loved ones, I think he proved it fighting for the lost case that Nora was in my eyes. I'm not sure if Bill is gone for good and wouldn't somehow materialize again, but Sookie was ready to do this, so I think it still means just as much.**

**Also, I can tell you now, that the reason why I wrote this was because the Billith plot twist is just plain pissing me off. I am all for taking Bill out of the way but I feel like this is taking the choice away from Sookie – sure, we all know this version of Bill is evil and she would be insane to think romantically of him now, but in my opinion, this should NOT be the reason why she is not with him – no, that should be all his earlier crap. This way, even IF she ends up with someone else (and we all know I want this someone to be Eric, but this is not the point here), this will always be as if it's only because Bill is no longer an option. Aaaand there will be this whole 'lost great love' shit hanging over her. That's why I'm letting her deal with it here. This is also why I brought up puppet-Eric case – I think it is comparable, because he wasn't himself at the time. Sorry for the monster AN. Anyway, let me know what you think!**


End file.
